1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a user""s color matching system that enables a user of a colored paint himself to precisely match a color of a paint under predetermined conditions in cooperation with a maker, a thinned pigment dispersion for color matching used in this system, a paint color matching method, a color matching data base for enabling a user to conduct such a color matching, and a method of using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since colored paint users selectively use color paints having various hues, it is impossible for them to have always all of these paints. For this reason, users have generally indicated colored paints of desired hues on the basis of color samples whenever they use the same, and have ordered the same to colored paint makers. Makers have in turn produced colored paints by mixing a base paint called a white paint base with pigment dispersions according to specific recipes, and have delivered the same to users.
However, in such a delivery system of colored paints, it takes a predetermined time for users or makers to do office works of giving or receiving an order and delivering products. Accordingly, at least 24 hours are actually required from ordering to completion of delivery. Thus, during that time, users are compelled to wait.
Under these circumstances, in recent years, users have come to require that base paints, various pigment dispersions and color matching devices (for example, a measuring device and a mixing stirrer) are provided in their own shops and they themselves conduct production of colored paints (color matching of base paints) freely and quickly.
However, such a color matching of users is currently problematic in the following three points a) to c).
a) There is no expert worker of the color matching on the side of users. Therefore, even when color samples are offered from makers or a color matching technical know-how is instructed from makers, it is impossible for users themselves to precisely match a color on the basis of the correct judgement of color hues.
b) In order to match a color of a base paint as required, it is requested to conduct precise mixing (especially, a small amount of a pigment dispersion is measured precisely and stably in terms of a very small unit calculated below the decimal point, for example, xe2x80x9c7.15 mlxe2x80x9d, and mixed). To this end, a costly high-precision color matching device and a color matching worker, a skilled person who precisely conducts the measuring process, are needed. However, such a color matching device and the skilled worker cannot be expected from users.
Some paint makers have tried to supply a pigment dispersion in which the pigment concentration is decreased to approximately 10 times on purpose for diminishing the usersxe2x80x2 difficulty in precise procedures of measuring and mixing the same. In this case, however, a base paint is mixed with a large amount of a pigment dispersion having a solvent formulation which is not necessarily adapted to base paints having various solvent formulations. Thus, there is a fear that a performance of paint might be decreased.
c) Even though the problems a) and b) are solved, an error in the color matching occurs with a known mixing ratio when, for example, a predetermined amount of a base paint is mixed with a predetermined volume of a pigment dispersion because an amount of a pigment dispersion to be used varies depending on the increase or the decrease in the volume of the pigment dispersion owing to environmental factors. Thus, it is quite impossible to correct the same at the usersxe2x80x2 technical level.
By the way, the present inventors have supposed that the foregoing problems could be solved by focussing on the following points x) to z).
x) The problem a) can be solved such that the know-how of the color matching operation which has been so far conducted by makers mainly based on experiences of expert workers is inputted in a data base, and offered to users as a figured color-matching data base.
y) The problem b) can be solved as follows. Users are made to install a relatively simple and inexpensive color-matching device. Further, with respect to the lack of precise measurement and the lack of skill in operation of the device, there is provided a color matching method using a combination of rough color matching with a pigment dispersion having a high thinned pigment concentration in which the concentration is precisely controlled through dilution with an average solution for pigment dilution that is most appropriate to base paints having various compositions and fine color matching with a thinned pigment dispersion having a low pigment concentration in which the concentration is likewise controlled.
z) The problem c) can be solved by correcting a data base, as required, by a correction formula in consideration of the change in the specific gravity owing to environmental factors of a thinned pigment dispersion using data accumulated abundantly by makers.
It is an object of the invention to provide, upon solving these problems, a user""s color matching system which enables a user to match a color easily and precisely and which can avoid the decrease in the performance of a paint caused by color matching, a thinned pigment dispersion set for color matching that a user uses in this system, a paint color matching method which is conducted by a user using this thinned pigment dispersion set for color matching, a color matching data base for user and a using method including correction of the data.
The first aspect of the invention is that a user""s color matching system in which a user of a colored paint himself matches a color of a base paint using a thinned pigment dispersion for color matching under the following conditions (1) to (3).
(1) The user has a color matching device capable of conducting measuring and mixing for color matching.
(2) The maker of the colored paint offers the user the base paint and the thinned pigment dispersion for color matching of a required hue.
(3) The maker of the colored paint offers the user a color matching data base for user that indicates a standard amount of a base paint in color matching and an amount of a thinned pigment dispersion for color matching of one or more hues to be mixed therewith in any mode.
In the first aspect, a color matching device capable of conducting measuring and mixing for color matching but not required to have a high precision can be bought or rent by a user without difficulty because it is relatively inexpensive.
A combination of a base paint and a thinned pigment dispersion for color matching is offered from a maker of a colored paint, and a standard amount of a base paint and an amount of a thinned pigment dispersion for color matching to be mixed therewith are further instructed using a color matching data base. Consequently, a user can mix them in amounts instructed by a maker and conduct the color matching without trouble even though a user cannot make mature judgement of a color tone in the color matching.
The second aspect of the invention is a thinned pigment dispersion set for color matching in which a thinned pigment dispersion of any hue comprises a thinned pigment dispersion for rough color matching and a thinned pigment dispersion for fine color matching as described below, at a pigment concentration ratio of from 5:1 to 50:1 which are used for color matching of a base paint:
(1) a thinned pigment dispersion for rough color matching having a high pigment concentration, which is a pigment dispersion produced for color matching of a base paint, or a thinned pigment dispersion obtained by diluting this pigment dispersion to a known concentration at a relatively low ratio with a colorless transparent solution for pigment dilution containing one or more of HEC (hydroxyethyl cellulose), a polycarboxylate and xanthan gum as a thickener and an alkylene glycol as a drying inhibitor; and
(2) a thinned pigment dispersion for fine color matching having a low pigment concentration, which is obtained by diluting a pigment dispersion to a known concentration at a relatively high ratio with the solution for pigment dilution.
In the second aspect, the solution for pigment dilution has a good pigment dispersibility and an excellent adaptability to various base paint formulations. Accordingly, it has, on the average, the lowest adverse effect on the performance of the paint with respect to the base paint having various solvent formulations, and can remarkably avoid the deterioration of the performance of the paint.
The third aspect of the invention is a paint color matching method in which rough color matching of a base paint using the thinned pigment dispersion for rough color matching having the high pigment concentration in the large measuring unit and fine color matching of a base paint using the thinned pigment dispersion for fine color matching having the low pigment concentration in the measuring unit scaled up at the dilution ratio are conducted with respect to a thinned pigment dispersion of one or more hues in the color matching of a colored paint.
In the third aspect, even if a user has not a high-precision color matching device or there is not a skilled worker, the thinned pigment dispersion for rough color matching having the high pigment dispersion is used in a small amount in terms of a large measuring unit (for example, when it is requested to measure xe2x80x9c7.15 mlxe2x80x9d of the pigment dispersion, xe2x80x9c7.0 mlxe2x80x9d is measured with the ml unitxe2x80x9d), and the thinned pigment dispersion for fine color matching having the low pigment concentration is used in a measuring unit scaled up at a dilution ratio (for example, xe2x80x9c0.15 mlxe2x80x9d is measured as xe2x80x9c1.5 mlxe2x80x9d scaled up to 10 times). Accordingly, the measuring and the mixing thereof can be conducted precisely. The same effects as provided in the second aspect can be expected.
The fourth aspect of the invention is a data base which is used in the color matching of the base paint by the user of the colored paint and in which at least the following data is offered for each desired color in the color matching:
(1) a standard amount of a base paint shown in terms of a weight unit or a volume unit; and
(2) an amount of a thinned pigment dispersion for color matching of one or more hues shown in terms of a weight unit or a volume unit with respect to the base paint in the above-described standard amount.
In the fourth aspect, the base paint and the thinned pigment dispersion for color matching can be mixed in amounts indicated by the database, and the difficult judgement of color tones can be dispensed with on the usersxe2x80x2 side in which there is no expert worker of color matching.
The fifth aspect of the invention provides a method of using a color matching data base for user. In this method, when the standard amount of the base paint in the color matching data base for user is shown in terms of a weight unit and the mixing amount of the thinned pigment dispersion or the mixing amounts of the thinned pigment dispersion for rough color matching and the thinned pigment dispersion for fine color matching are shown in terms of a volume unit, the data of the mixing amount of the thinned pigment dispersion or the data of the mixing amounts of the thinned pigment dispersion for rough color matching and the thinned pigment dispersion for fine color matching are corrected, as required, by a correction formula in consideration of the change in the specific gravity of various thinned pigment dispersions owing to environmental factors, and the correction data is offered to the user.
In the fifth aspect, the color matching error accompanied by the increase or the decrease in the volume of the thinned pigment dispersion owing to environmental factors such as a temperature and the like can be corrected easily and accurately only by following the corrected value of the data base offered from the maker to the user as required.
The above and other advantages of the invention will become more apparent in the following description and the accompanying drawings.